While the awards, medals, and memorials in their honor mean a lot to our veterans, I think it is the caring people who go out of their way to thank and honor our veterans who really make the biggest difference.
It is our personal gratitude that matters most.
The San Francisco Giants, Kansas City Royals and Major League Baseball recently thanked our veterans by dedicating Game 1 of the 2014 World Series to our veterans and their military families. This dedication included a special on-field, pre-game ceremony to highlight and honor the service of our veterans.
In addition to thanking our veterans with these fantastic ceremonies, we must also do all we can to care for them, for they have experienced more than we will ever understand.
Major League Baseball and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation believe so deeply in caring for our veterans and their families that they have committed more than $30 million to WelcomeBackVeterans.org since 2008.
Welcome Back Veterans provides funding to nonprofit agencies and hospitals that support returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families, and focuses on funding research and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Hundreds of thousands of our veterans arrive home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from PTSD. Far too often they come home to find their spouses and children suffering as well. At the Welcome Back Veterans website, welcomebackveterans.org, people can learn more about how to help. Their goal is to transform the lives of returning veterans by providing on-going treatment to them and their families for any PTSD-related issues they may have.
Another source of help is the Department of Veterans Affairs. Their Veterans Crisis Line is a confidential, toll-free service connects veterans in crisis and their families and friends with responders via phone, online chat, or text. Veterans and their loved ones can call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1, chat online, or send a text message to 838255 to receive critical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The Veterans Crisis Line can be accessed on the web at http://veteranscrisisline.net.
If you are a veteran who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, you can contact the National Veterans Administration (VA) Call Center anytime—day or night—at 1-877-424-3838 (the line is also intended for veterans’ families, VA Medical Centers, federal, state and local partners, community agencies, service providers and others assisting veterans).
And here in Ukiah, the VA Clinic at 630 Kings Court in Ukiah is an excellent resource for our veterans. The Ukiah staff encourages veterans returning home from military service to visit the center and enroll, even if they don’t currently need services.
Today, more than a million men and women–including some our community’s best–are serving in our armed forces. Millions more have served our country in the past with distinction and honor. These brave men and women have put their lives on the line so that we may freely enjoy ours.
I am so proud to live in a community that cares for our veterans, their families, and the service they have selflessly given us. I can’t think of a more generous gift than to safeguard our country with military service.
This Veteran’s Day (Tuesday, November 11), I encourage you to find a way to thank the heroes who have given us the precious gift of freedom. Our veterans deserve a thank you, a hand shake, and a few minutes of your gratitude for their service. Nothing means more than heartfelt appreciation.
To all our armed service heroes – Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines – thank you. You have given us a gift we can never repay.
Happy Birthday, Marines – Semper Fi.
As always, our mission at UPD is simple: to make Ukiah as safe as possible. If you have suggestions on how we can improve please feel free to call me. If you would like to know more about crime in your neighborhood, you can sign up for telephone, cell phone and email notifications by clicking the Nixle button on our website: www.ukiahpolice.com.
